Vijay SinghMumbai: A month after Mikey, a friendly community dog, was allegedly killed inside Raheja Exotica complex at Madh Island, Malvani police have identified and arrested four accused, including housekeeping staffer Vaibhav Koli, who residents describe as the main accused.The other arrested persons have been identified as Moreshwar Patil, Santosh Kapur and Dharmendra Gound. Local animal lovers thanked senior police inspector Shailendra Nagarkar and his team for investigating the animal cruelty case. They said several residents, including actor Manjiri Fadnis, reviewed CCTV footage and helped police piece together the sequence of events.Animal rights activist Xavier Santiago said most CCTV cameras inside the society had allegedly been switched off a day before Mikey was killed and his body packed in a gunny sack. “Fortunately, one camera at the adjoining Raheja Clubhouse was still functioning. With police help, we checked hours of footage and saw what happened in the early hours of May 27,” he said.According to Santiago, security guards carrying lathis allegedly forced Mikey towards the B-2 section of the society. “Koli then arrived on a scooter, entered B-2 and allegedly bludgeoned Mikey with a heavy rod. Gound allegedly provided a gunny sack to remove the body. This footage helped identify the culprits,” he said.Fadnis said residents were grateful to co-resident Sanket Kadam and other animal lovers who assisted in the investigation. She, however, questioned who had ordered the CCTV cameras to be switched off, why the society administration allegedly did not cooperate fully with police in providing CCTV DVDs, and who had instructed Koli to kill Mikey. Santiago said Mikey was an affable dog. “Why would Koli come there at 2.30am to kill him unless someone had asked him to do it? He has not revealed that name to police,” he said.Residents said this was the first time a forensic police team had visited the society premises to collect evidence after the FIR. They have also questioned why the accused security guards have not been dismissed by society, despite the arrests and available CCTV evidence.
